• Where’s Ann Michael? – Preparing for the preview call on a new 5- part GO System Webinar Series. Now you will be able to attend the GO System Workshop from the comfort of your office.
• Feature Article – Where does Technology Fit?
• Ann Michael Recommends – Catching our October issue of Pondering Productivity here. Due to technical challenges, the October issue was not sent out on time; therefore, read it now!

Near the end of October, I had the opportunity to visit beautiful San Diego to attend a conference. After the conference was over, I was able to stay for a few extra days to have some "mommy time" with a dear friend. It was wonderful -- breakfast, lunch, and dinner outside enjoying every moment of the warm southern California weather.

On Sunday we spent the day at Sea World where her youngest daughter, a marine biologist, works. I thoroughly enjoy observing animal life; I sometimes think that I should have been a veterinarian! From lunch with Shamu, to the cute penguins and the huggable polar bears, it was a delight.

The next day we went to Cabrillo National Monument where San Diego was first settled. From this high point, we had a great view of the city, the naval base, and the hills of Mexico. We also had the honor of seeing the maiden voyage of the U.S. Navy's newest vessel. As the ship passed the park, an officer came onto the PA system and announced to those of us observing what was going on. It was exciting to learn that this was the Navy's first 'green' vessel. Moments later, a submarine appeared in the bay – it was returning to base. Then, a C-17 took off. Wow! Talk about being at the right place at the right time!

As the daughter of a Purple Heart decorated World War II veteran, I always feel a heart tug when it comes to our military and that beautiful sunny day was no different. I felt something else that day as well. Looking out, I couldn't help but marvel at the technology that was displayed before me. All of that incredible technology and how I'd love to get to see how it all works!

Get Your E-mail Under Control!

Mise En Place is pleased to announce that our premier training course on managing e-mail is now available on demand. You can take this course in our Productivity E-Library at your convenience – no travel time, no webinar schedule to worry about, and no excuses! Here is what you will learn and see in the two parts – 75 minute video as we work with our e-mail and show you how to effectively manage this incredible productivity tool.

• The proven secrets of managing e-mail
• The 4 players in the e-mail game
• The 5 misuses of an in-box and strategies to prevent the misusesse
• The "golden rule" of managing e-mail
• 5 disadvantages of a full in-box
• 5 steps for clearing out an overloaded in-box
• More than 8 strategies for incoming e-mail management including 3 tips for significantly reducing spam
• Strategies for managing outgoing e-mails including 4 options for directing e-mail traffic
• 5 tips to improve overall performance, processing, and maintenance

  …and more!

Additionally, in the Productivity E-Library you will have access to the following course tools:

1. Course Notes
2. Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Managing E-mail
      A 20-page How-to Guide
      Step-by-step instructions and visuals for Managing E-mail
3. Next Steps Implementation Guide

When you have your e-mail under control, we would encourage you to view the bonus video that is included with this course. In this video we share a tool with you that you will find helpful for managing all of your to-dos!

Click here to register

With the vast array of technology available today, one would assume organizational skills would have increased dramatically. We should be the most organized society in the history of mankind! Unfortunately, the opposite has occurred. We are one of the most unorganized societies in history. According to an October 3, 2005 Business Week article, "…fully 25% of executives at large companies say their communications -- voice mail, e-mail, and meetings -- are nearly or completely unmanageable." That's according to a McKinsey survey of more than 7,800 managers around the world.

Have we fallen in love with technology and forgotten that its purpose is to make our lives easier? Are we suffering from a bad case of technology overload? Or, are we so focused on the next great "invention" and its bells and whistles that we have completely forgotten (or intentionally ignored) the value in maximizing what we already have before we move onto the next gadget?

The real challenge is how to integrate technology into our lives and improve our organization skills without allowing technology to consume more time than it was meant to save. Consider the following steps:

1. Evaluate Your Organization Skills: Outline your current work style and how you organize your time and activities. Focus on which habits are supporting your organizational skills and which are destroying your ability to get and stay organized.
2. Develop Your Organizational and Productivity Wish List: Paint a picture of what your life would be like if you were totally organized. Now, compare it to your current situation. Next, be very disciplined about identifying exactly how you will become more organized and exactly how you will save time by using a new technological tool.
3. Select the Right Technology: When researching and selecting the right technology, consider effectiveness, functionality, affordability, dependability, portability, compatibility, and learnabilty.
4. Use the Technology to Support Your Game Plan, Not as Your Game Plan: Technology should be used primarily to support your work style and organizational game plan. It is not the "silver bullet" that will magically make us highly organized individuals. With that in mind, select the right technology based on your personal needs, objectives, and goals.

Make it your objective to control technology instead of it controlling you!

Adapted from Where Does Technology Fit? in Focus. Organization. Productivity. Ideas for Improving Success in the Workplace.

Save All Open Word Documents At Once

You can save and close with the Save All and Close All commands. Simply:

1. Press the Shift key when clicking File.
2. Click the Save All command which appears in the drop down list. All of your open documents will be saved in their respective folders.
   NOTE: If you are saving a document for the first time, you will be prompted to name it and specify the folder where you want it placed. However, if you have previously saved the file, you can’t rename it or place it in a new folder using this command. If you want to do that, you will still have to save each document individually using the Save As command.
3. Repeat Step 1 and this time click Close All. All of the documents will now be closed.

Insert Text Automatically

Adding your own AutoText entries in Word can be done in a few easy steps:

1. Type the word or phrase you would like to add to your AutoText library in a Word document.
2. Highlight the word or string of characters. Be sure to add a "space" after the last letter.
3. Insert > AutoText > AutoText again.
4. The AutoCorrect box will open with the AutoText tab selected, showing the text you have highlighted.
5. Make sure the text is the way you want in the Preview box.
   Click the Add button.

Ann Michael Henry is the Founder and The Productivity Chef for Mise En Place -- an organization and productivity consulting firm devoted to working with clients to discover the right ingredients for managing e-mail, digital data, paper, and workload so that they can "get cooking" at work and still have time to satisfy their appetite for life.

Her personal philosophy...let's get the work done so that we can go out and play is what motivates Ann Michael. If you liked today's issue, you'll love Ann Michael’s productivity tools, products, and training designed to help you improve your focus, organization, and productivity at work so that you have time to experience all that life has to offer.

Having the right ingredients – tips, tools, and proven techniques – to accommodate an individual's work style is what makes the difference. This is where Ann Michael thrives! Her ultimate goal is to find the recipe that works for you!